This added a bit of stress to our lives though because we were all leaving the next morning to drive down to Mesa, AZ for a visit with my family. Mike was starting work the next Monday morning here in Salt Lake. What were we going to do? Well, I wasn't going to miss the trip so my wonderful husband drove Alena and I down to Arizona and then flew back up on Sunday night to start work.
Now our trip wasn't just for pleasure and relaxation, it was actually for something very, very exciting. My little brother Preston came home from his mission!! Tuesday the 8th we all headed down to the airport to meet his plane.
Now can you just picture the herd of people standing there at the security gate waiting for one person?? People were amazed and many stopped to ask what/who we were waiting for. 40 people is quite a site at the airport.
Please notice the fabulous sign, all the letters drawn by yours truly :) Other family members helped with the painting and stuff.
Mom was crying 15 minutes before he came out and was up on her tippy toes watching for him the whole time.
Isn't he the sweetest thing?!?! We are all total tear bags, don't hold it against us.
Seeing the first hugs with Mom and Dad was really the greatest thing (aside from being able to hug him myself). It is such a great feeling to witness the honorable return of such a wonderful boy turned to man from a mission serving the Lord.
The next item of business was the mass hug from the nieces and nephews. It was so fun to see them all so excited to see their Uncle Preston.
Alena though would have nothing to do with any of it. She was confused by the whole ordeal and pretty upset that Daddy wasn't there. She is still a sweetheart in my book though!
We then headed for some visiting and fun that lasted that night and the next day and night. We were all pretty excited. Sad thing is Alena started running a fever on Wednesday that lasted till Saturday and then the runny nose and grumpiness lasted the whole next week :( Poor girl.
While Alena and I were busy with family and sickness in Arizona, Mike more than had his hands full up here in Utah. He was going through very intense training for his new job, finishing his last 2 nights of class for his MBA program and then to add to all of that, he also got sick :( I felt really bad that I couldn't be up here to take care of him. He is a total trooper and passed everything with flying colors!! He is all done with his MBA!!! I am so so proud of him and all his hard work. He is constantly amazing me.
Well after way too much time apart, Mike flew back down to Mesa of Friday the 18th. Alena was so happy to see her daddy again and I have to admit I was pretty ecstatic to have him back with us as well. He was back just in time to be a part of the Wilcken family reunion that we had with my dad's side of the family. Lots of fun visiting with cousins, lots of food and fun memories were made.
We added into this taking family pictures since all of the 11 kids were all together again for the 1st time in 2 years. Not to mention, we had 5 new family members since the last picture was taken. It was quite the adventure since we ended up taking them in the rain. It's all about the memories right :)
Well, after 18 days in Mesa, on Monday morning we started the drive back to Salt Lake so Mike could be back to work on Tuesday. So here we are, trying to settle back into a new routine and put our life back together. Crazy thing is I'm not just recouping from a 2 week vacation. . . I was MIA for the previous 2 months sick in bed with the pregnancy. I am feeling pretty good now, not back to 100% but getting closer to it every day. I've got a doctors appointment tomorrow and might be able to find out what we are having this time, but we will have to wait and see.
I should be working on the house rather than this post so I should wrap it up. More updates on life to come (I'm not working anymore, so I'll have the time to do it!)
LUVZ!!
